An efficient tabu search algorithm to the cell formation problem with alternative routings and machine reliability considerations

Cell formation is the first step in the design of cellular manufacturing systems. In this study, an efficient tabu search algorithm based on a similarity coefficient is proposed to solve the cell formation problem with alternative process routings and machine reliability considerations. In the proposed algorithm, good initial solutions are first generated and later on improved by a tabu search algorithm combining the mutation operator and an effective neighborhood solution searching mechanism. Computational experiences from test problems show that the proposed approach is extremely effective and efficient. When compared with the mathematical programming approach which took three hours to solve problems, the proposed algorithm is able to produce optimal solutions in less than 2 s.

Research highlights
► This study anticipates the synergy effects between the TS and the GA by presenting an efficient algorithm using the TS, together with the mutation operator from the GA, to increase the quality and efficiency of solutions.
► Computational experiences from test problems show that the proposed approach is extremely effective and efficient. When compared with the mathematical programming approach which took three hours to solve problems, the proposed algorithm is able to produce optimal solutions in less than 2 s.
► Computational experiences from test problems show that the proposed approach (TSM) is able to achieve global optimum in seven out of eight test instances in less than 9 s. In addition, the standard deviation for all test instances is equal to 0, which indicates that TSM is able to consistently produce good solutions.